Heal Me
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: summery is inside. pairings are undecided but it's a toss up between Leo/OC and Raph/OC. So please give it a peek and let me know what you all think. formerly, Heal my Heart.
1. Chapter 1

Yo, it's been a while.

Sorry for the long absence, there is some serious crap going down here- with my family and friends. So I often find my attention devided. However I got an idea for this story after starting Redemption (another TMNT fic) and it hit me so hard that I just couldn't shake it. I'm not totally sure of the pairings yet, it will be a toss up between Leo/OC and Raph/OC.

Here's a brief summery of the story- Karai fought so hard to kill them, but they killed her first. And now that things are finally getting back to normal, things are about to get shaken up again in a big way.

Karai's sister Isis is back in town. And Karai's will has finally gone into effect- stating that her sister must take control of the Foot clan and that she must also make things right with the Hamoto family by marrying one of it's son's.

But how is she to make things right when her new family is suspicous of every move that she makes?

Wild right?

You're reviews will help me figure out the pairing for the story. So... R&R, ok.

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16 years before-

The shredder stood over his second daughter with a look of disgust in his eyes as he looked down at her. _This child was pathetically weak_. He thought as he caught his first daughter struggling to her feet, and smiled behind his mask. Karai at eleven was far more superior a warrior than her sister would ever be. Even now he could feel a surge of pride towards his first daughter as she finally managed to gain her footing again and grip the weapon that he'd given to her to use for her training.

While her sister...curled up on the floor and started crying.

_God save me from the foolish nature of my young._ He thought almost in irritation. "Get up." He ordered again in a cold tone as he looked down at his youngest child. Her small face was littered with bruises and blood- all of which were her own- her vivid red hair slipping over her little shaking shoulders in uneven lengths from where he had slashed it off with his claws a few minutes ago.

Her pale turquise eyes glazed with pain, and glassy looking from the unshed tears gathering in her eyes.

"Get up." He said again and stopped Karai with a motion of his hand when she moved to help haul her little sister up. The child didn't move.

She just laid there sobbing and after a minute or so of trying to get her up so that they could continue their training, the Shredder gave up with a roll of his eyes and kicked the child hard enough to send her rolling across the floor before coming to a stop after hitting the wall.

"Ugh! Such a pitiful child! You're useless to me unless you fight!" The Shredder growled as Karai pulled on his deep purple cape, gaining his attention.

"Please forgive Isis father. She's still very young and doesn't understand _why_ we have to fight." The Shredder knelt down in front of his favorite child and ruffled her hair almost affectionatly before asking.

"But you understand, don't you Karai?"

"Hai, father. I understand very well..."

The Shredder looked upon his daughter with as much affection as any father then turned his head and looked at the whimpering child laying with her back against the wall and silently snarled behind his mask. Her disgusting weakness was not something that he could easily bear. "I'm glad at least one of you isn't a disappointment to me-" He said before falling silent for a moment, his mind working quickly. "Perhaps it would be best for me to focus on training you from now on Karai. Seeing as your sister does not have any spirit in her to oppose me-"

"That's not true father. Isis has lots of spirit!" Karai said before slapping a small hand over her mouth as her father glanced down at her, his eyes curious now as she gave him a 'whoops' look and quickly averted her eyes as her father asked.

"Are you keeping something from you're father?"

"Uh..."

"Karai-" The Shredders tone took on a menacing purr that she knew only too well...

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The rest of the training session resulted in more colorful bruises than Karai could count. But once it was over she made her way over to her little sister to check on her. The little red head had lain so still after their father had kicked her that for a little while Karai had worried that their father had killed her. Which had angered her and thrilled their father since he had really got a good grasp of what she could do.

She knelt down next to her sister and placed her slender fingers against her throat and jumped when Isis jerked and let out a growling sound.

This always happened. Everytime their father wanted them to train Isis would get hurt and drop to the floor crying, unbeknown to their father that she did so in an effort to keep control of her temper.

To keep herself from stomping their father into the ground like she did with the bullies at school.

Not that their father knew this. Karai doubted that he would ever know just how much control Isis exercised over her temper. And that was just fine since Isis was still young and it was her job to protect her little sister and defend the clan.

Isis turned slightly and looked at her, her eyes red rimmed and angry looking as Karai gave her a small tentative smile. Uncertain of what to do or say for the moment aside from, "Training is over. Wanna get something to eat?"

Her sister was quiet for a heartbeat or so before nodding her head and slowly rolling her body so that she could climb to her feet. Karai helped her, but only a little bit since she knew how much Isis hated leaning on her for any reason. She had said as much the last time their father had broken her leg during training. And while it had stung Karai to know that her sister felt that way, it had also forced her to see Isis as something more than something to be coddled.

Despite what their father may say and think of her little sister, Karai knew that Isis was unusually strong. She just hoped that their father never found out otherwise Isis may not survive.

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16 years later-

Karai stood in a circle of flames with her arch enemy, Leonardo Hamoto- her father's killer and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Not because the mutant freak was now cornered and all hell was breaking loose around them, but because she could recall the last time her sister had come home. She'd been seventeen and had been walking the hallways singing her latest favorite song.

Standing outside the Fire, by Garth Brooks. A country singer.

Karai could remember hearing someone's voice echoing through the mansion that she had called home all her life. She had followed the lyrical sound, finding it lovely and had been curious as to who would bring such beauty to her grim and dreary home when she had rounded the corner- and there was her sister, singing. Her voice rising and falling in perfect harmony with the song blaring over the headphones she was wearing.

Her semi long mid shoulder length red hair had been drawn back into a ponytail and she had been wearing a teal and lavender colored kimono.

Karai could recall seeing the light from the windows hitting her just right and thought with envy, how beautiful her little sister had become. Like a bright flame. Always standing out in stark contrast to Karai's darkness.

She felt a sharp burning sensation on one of her upper arms and hissed as her mind snapped back to the here and now. Leonardo held up one of his katana blades to let her see the blood- her blood- slowly running down the blade and made a tsking sound. "Daydreaming Karai. I thought that your father taught you better than that."

"You'll pay for that freak." She said as she bared her teeth at him and slashed at him with her katana, watching as he quickly moved back just beyond her blades reach. The bastard. She thought darkly as they randomly started to slash at eachother. They were like children fighting.

Each wanting to draw more and more blood until an adult came to seperate them.

The clang of their weapons could be heard over the screams and small explosions rocking the mansion as Leonardo's brothers, and freak father tore through her men and brought a majority of her home down around them. Isolating them until only herself and Leo were the only one's fighting while everyone else stood off to the side, watching.

Waiting with bated breath, hoping that Leo would emerge victorious.

The two fought for what felt like forever to Karai before she felt her arms starting to hurt and knew that she had to finish the fight soon before her strength gave out completely. She lunged at Leonardo, her arm extended, her blade aimed at the center of his chest. He moved so quickly that she didn't have time to register the fact that one of his katana blades had just been pushed through her ribs and into her heart until she spat up blood and her vision started to blur.

She tipped her head back just enough to see Leo's expression as her vision cleared and gave him a small, pained smile. She couldn't feel anything but she knew that he felt the horror that she should have been feeling in that moment.

"D-Don't look at m-me like that..." She gasped out as she tried to keep breathing. "W-When you l-look like that...y-you break my heart." She managed to wheeze out as she collapsed against him, vaguely aware of him talking to her, his hands sticky with her blood, smoothing her dark hair back as he tried to give her some comfort in her final moments.

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Leo held Karai in his arms up until her last, shuttering breath. All while thinking how unfair it was that things had come to this. Especially when he had gotten to know her so well before killing the Shredder.

Karai had been the closest person other than Splinter who had truly understood him and how his mind worked. She had understood his necessity to hide himself away behind facades of honor and politeness to keep others from discovering the darker side of his personality.

She had known the reasons why he and Raph were always at eachother's throats. She had known that secretly deep down he had envied his two younger brothers for their innocence. She had known that he often felt frustrated with his father for putting him in charge when Don would have been the better, more rational choice.

And now that she was dead...he felt empty. The only friend that he had ever considered his and his alone was gone.

All over a vendetta for a man that never should have involved her to begin with. He closed her eyes and hugged her to him for a moment, whispering that he wished things had ended another way, then lay her down on the floor and quickly, woodenly pulled his katana from her chest and leapt over the climbing flames to where his family was feeling as if he should have been the one to die here instead of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Several weeks later-

Mikey was on his way out of the kitchen with a pair of sippy cups for April and Casey's twins when he heard a loud sounding, _"Growwwl!"_ And paused and scanned the room for the 'teeny tots' as he liked to call them and spotted one of them crawling after Klunk just as fast as he could. Which wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

At least not since Karai's death when he'd been put on babysitting duty anyways.

But the growling coming from Klunk was another story altogether as he watched the one eyed orange tabby run to the corner of the couch where Anna, April and Casey's daughter clotheslined him as she crawled around the corner of the couch, making Mikey scream in comical horror as Klunk went down hard.

And was pounced on by both of the giggling little monsters that he'd been forced to watch today while the others trained.

Klunk twitched a few times as his whiskers and fur were pulled and Mikey threw both sippy cups over his shoulders, not really caring where they landed or what they hit as he all but ran to rescue his cat from April's demon spawn.

"Anna, Mitch, no! Bad babies! Stop bouncing on Klunk!" Mikey shrieked in an odd tone that bordered on girly as the twins both looked up at him for a split second then bolted in opposite directions just as fast as they could. As he dropped down to one knee and picked up Klunk and ran his hands over his sides and his face until the cat started to purr.

At which point Mikey sputtered and tossed the cat onto the couch, growling the word, _"Traitor."_ At the tabby before he took off after the kids.

He managed to grab Mitch just before he went into Donnies lab where his brother was propped up at his desk, asleep and cradled the irked baby in his arms as he chuckled and said, "No, no. Little babies can't go in there because Don might have escaped training today and might be sleeping. And he might throw a needle or something at you if you wake him..." Looking away from the baby he scanned the living room again and growled in frustration. "Now where is that mean sissy of yours, hm?"

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Splinter was overseeing his children's training while Mikey took a much needed break from the dojo in leu of a different sort of training after the wounds he'd recieved during the last fight with Karai and the Foot. He had just paired up Raph with Don and was about to signal them to start when the dojo door opened a crack.

And Anna wiggled through and crawled past him before he could so much as do more than _gape_ at her little diapered bottom as she made her way across the matted floor to where Leo was sitting, trying to meditate, and crawled right into his lap and let out a loud, "Goo!" Startling him out of his meditative state just long enough to look down at her little grinning face as Mikey came tearing inot the Dojo nearly hysterical.

"Anna's gone! Klunk is a traitor. And Mitch is chewing on my wrist and I have no idea why!" Everyone looked at Mikey as Splinter reached up and pinched the bridge of his muzzle and sighed as Mikey did an impression of Will Smith from Fresh Prince of Belair and suddenly burst into tears and sank to the floor clutching Mitch.

If anything ever happened to him, his sons would be dead within a week. _Well, Mikey and Don would be._ Splinter mused. Leonardo and Rapheal were a different story altogether. He gave them a month at most before they killed eachother over some stupid and random thing like what to eat, or the TV remote.

Leo picked Anna up out of his lap and slowly stood up and made his way over to Mikey and plucked Mitch from his grasp and held the baby up and studied him for a second before saying, "Stop crying and go get something for him to chew on other than your wrist, he's teething." Leo handed his youngest brother the babies then absently excused himself from the room with a bow to their master.

Seemingly unaware of the worried eyes of his family watching as he left.

Mikey cuddled Mitch against his chest with Anna and looked at his father as if to say, _Why did you let him walk out?_ Mikey and the others had all taken note of the changes in Leo's demeanor since his final confrontation with Karai. He had become quieter. Almost distant.

All of them knew that he was secretly mourning the young woman's death and they didn't like it.

Karai had been an enemy. Undeserving of their kindness or compassion.

She had certainly shown that they weren't worth hers time and time again. Which begged the question, what delusions were Leo holding onto that seemed to hurt him so?

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Isis stood in the yard of the small second story house that her sister had provided for her upon their father's death, looking at the roses and other flowers artfully littering her yard and felt a pang of remorse because now she would have to leave the only true home she'd known since she was eleven- the age she had been when her father had finally sent her away.

Deeming her unfit to even be called his child because she had still refused to be molded into a weapon. Like her sister.

Her sister... Her eyes stung a bit and she looked down at the papers in her hands. It was a letter from Karai, dated the day before her death, and a large yellow envelope with her address scralled in it in kanji and english. The odd mixture that she recognised as her sisters writing.

The papers inside the envelope were a set of instructions coupled with a plea.

Seek out the enemy. End the feuding for good. Marry one of the Hamoto sons and live a long and happy life with a family that was likely to care for her. The stinging in her eyes got worse as she turned the words over in her mind over and over again as tears slipped down her face and she was siezed with a momentary sense of panic.

_Oh god. Oh god._ What had Karai been thinking? She couldn't marry someone she'd never met before! Let alone someone that her family had been trying to kill...that was just asking for trouble. And just what the hell had made her sister think she would be accepted by such a family anyways?

Had she been high when she wrote out her will or something? "How could she do this and then expect me to clean up the mess that she and father made?" She muttered darkly as she started to wad up the papers in her hands but caught herself and smoothed the papers out again and sighed.

Goddamn it all. She didn't want this.

Not the Foot Clan, the Purple Dragons or an arranged marriage to a total stranger. But now that she was the last of her family, if she wanted the bloodshed to stop then she didn't have a choice...

It was time to go home.

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Several days later-

After packing what she would need, Isis went home to the empty mansion where what was left of both the Foot Clan and the Purple Dragons all greeted her as she climbed out of her taxie and stood there for a moment in awe of her late father and sister's work.

The two had built a damned empire for orginized crime and expected her to rip it down to it's foundation in a matter of days.

_Uh..._ She was getting a headache just thinking about it when a large hulk of a man stepped forward and knelt at her feet. She blinked at him as everyone else did as he did and was just a bit startled when the man said, "Forgive me mistress Isis for not being of better use to your sister, Karai."

Feeling more than a little embarrassed by his odd display and formal speak, Isis felt herself starting to panic a bit but quickly squashed the feeling and reached out and hesitantly patted him on his bulky shoulder and said. "That's okay."

The man looked up at her with a peculiar look on his face then grasped her hand in his larger one and kissed the back almost reverently. Causing her to bristle slightly even as he released her hand and stood. "My name is Hun. I was Lady Karai's second hand and it would be an honor to be of use to you in the upcoming fight with the ninja freaks that killed your sister."

Isis stared at him for a moment, unable to comprehend what he'd just said. A sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach as she asked in an almost haughty tone. "Who are you talking about Hun?"

"The Hamoto family, my lady. The murderers of your beloved sister." Hun said almost awkwardly, as if he expected her to already know who he was talking about. Isis was quiet for a moment, trying to digest everything he had just said before letting out a soft sigh.

The Hamoto family? As in the family that she was to marry into? She wondered as Hun said something to her then turned and barked out an order to everyone else present and then offered his arm to her in a gentlemanly fashion. She took his arm with a softly muttered thanks while several other people grabbed the bags that her taxie driver had unloaded for her, then silently led her into what was left of her once childhood home.

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Isis stood in what was left of her father's master chambers after she finally managed to ditch Hun. But now she was stuck because everyone was running around trying to find her. Which left her alone in a room with far too many bad memories and ghosts attached to it mentally going over how she would disband the Foot Clan and Purple Dragons.

She walked along the red carpeted floor, looking from one ancient family artifact to another, trying to gauge their worth as she slowly made her way up to the throne like chair she remembered her father always sitting in and quietly sat down on it and leaned back and closed her eyes. God she was tired. She hadn't slept since she had gotten Karai's letter or will. She had simply been too busy to sleep.

What with all the packing and such.

Her eyes drifted closed and she left out a contented sigh as her last coherent thought was, _Dad's chair is comfy. I could easily fall asleep here if I'm not careful-_

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Something was off tonight as the sun went down.

He could hear it in the awareness from the dark elements as they whispered of things in the darkness. The city was alive with all the sounds of voices. So soft and calm. _Conspiring, conniving bastards- _He thought as he finished up with a mugging and decided to swing by the old Foot headquarters to make sure that nothing was going on.

He waved off the elderly couple that he'd just saved and made his way to his bike and swung a well toned leg over it and started it up. Taking a moment to listen to his baby purr for him. Ah, the shell cycle. How he loved to hear her purr.

Revving up the engine he shot out of the alley he'd been in and deftly maneuvered his bike through traffic until he reached the other side of town and slowed down until he came to a stop just across the partially destroyed building, and got off of his bike so that he could climb up high to get a better look since he knew better than to tred where potential ambushes may be set.

Climbing the fire escape of one of the buildings, he hauled himself up onto the roof and made his way to the very front and hunkered down and blinked once in disbelief when he saw several purple blurs running around the trashed yard. _What the hell?_ He wondered as he pulled his steel helmet off so that he could make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

They weren't. He could see that as plain as day the second his helmet was off.

Baring his teeth in a silent snarl he dug his shellcell out of his belt and pressed the button for speed dial and one, figuring that Leo would want to know that despite Karai being dead, the Foot Clan wasn't defeated just yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo was laying on his bed when his cell started to ring, the sound snapping him out of his funk just long enough to reach over and grab it from his bedside table and sit up as he screened the number calling. It was Raph. Or rather it was the Nightwatcher, Raph's alter ego. Sighing tiredly he flipped the cell open and put it up against the slit of his ear and spoke.

"Raph."

"Leo! Something's goin' down here at the Foot headquarters!" Tensing up a little more with every word his brother spoke, Leo frowned and said.

"Wait, wait- Start over. At the beginning."

"Okay, look-" Raph started. "I was out doin' my thing and decided to ride by the former Foot Clan headquarters- And when I got here I noticed movement. Lots of movement. Leo, I don' think our fight is finished just yet." Raph said in an uncharacteristically worried tone that just grabbed at Leo's attention.

"Alright, stay put and watch them. I'm going to grab Don and Mikey and come to see what's going on."

"Alright. I'll be here." Raph said as the line went dead and Leo got up to go get the others.

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Isis didn't know how long she was out, but she was at least aware of the fact that Hun had finally found her when she felt herself being lifted from her father's chair and carried from the master room, down the hall to the bedroom where Karai had used to sleep, since it was the only one in this particular wing of the mansion that wasn't damaged or in ruins.

Once there, Hun carefully laid her on the bed- Somehow managing to do so without disturbing her then posted two guards outside and then went to open the sliding glass door leading out to the patio, since the room felt overly warm he felt it would be a good idea to let some air circulate.

Besides if she got cold or something then she could always get up at some point and close the door herself.

After that he left the room, leaving her to her much needed rest. Isis rolled over onto her side on the sapphire blue satin covered bed sheets and curled her body into a fetal position and extended an arm to reach out and grab a pillow, but couldn't find one. So instead made due with the stuffed bunny that she had secretly sent to her sister for her sixteenth birthday to cuddle with while she dreamt.

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Leo stared at the building across the street with a mixture of anger, frustration and utter disbelief. _Dear god-_ They had cut the snake's head off and the body was still writhing! What the hell did they have to do to get some damn peace already? Bomb the place with everyone inside nuclear style?

Sure it would take out thirty blocks or so of innocent people but at least then they would finally be rid of the Foot.

He felt one of his brothers shift anxiously next to him, and had to force himself not to do the same as Don asked, "What do we do now?"

Leo thought for a moment and then growled in irritation. There was no helping it. They would have to go in and see what was going on. After all, if they had a new enemy they should know before said enemy came knocking on their door. Scanning the yard across the way, he looked for a way in that wouldn't raise the alarm and was just a little surprised to see that a door was open and there was no guards hanging about.

"Okay, Don, Raph, Mikey, we're going in to see what's up. And _that_ door over there towards the west wing will be our way in." Leo said as he pointed towards the door in question.

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It was disgustingly easy to infiltrate their long time enemies stronghold. And the room that they found themselves in was something straight out of a home decorator magazine. The walls were a cream colored off shell white with sapphire silk hanging from metal rods hanging over the windows.

There were short knives in display cases on one side of the room where two long silvery katana blades hung on the wall.

There was an white oak dresser with little perfume bottles and a small bag of makeup laying on the top and a large four post canopy bed with sapphire silk curtains that were swaying gently in the breeze as Don sucked in a breath and hissed, "Christ this is _her_ room!"

Leo looked around the bedroom curiously for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. Yes, this must have been her room. That was the only reason he could think of for why the door had been open. At least it was until they heard a small moan coming from the bed and quickly drew their weapons, thinking that they had indeed been led into a trap of some kind.

Leo silently moved closer to the bed, his heart pounding as his brothers all took up various positions around the bed and waited for his signal.

Lifting one of his katana blades, he slipped it through the lovely blue silk and then pulled it back all at the same time and went totally still at the sight of a young woman laying there in the middle of the bed with a white and grey stuffed bunny hugged tightly in her arms, sound asleep.

Frowning, Leo looked at his brothers as if to ask, _What the hell is this? _Only to be answered by confused glances and a shrug before turning his attention back to the woman. She was a stunning beauty, maybe between the ages of twenty three and twenty five with firey long red hair and ivory skin. Her build was petite, though her body had a nice hourglass figure that rivaled Aprils.

She was wearing a tight emerald knit sweater that showed the gentle curve of her breasts and skin tight jeans that hugged long slender legs and showed off her cute bottom. Her feet were bare, giving him a nice veiw of the green fingernail polish on them.

She moaned again and turned over, throwing one arm over the side of the bed where he stood. Forcing him to jump back as her knuckles grazed the skin of his inner thigh, startling him almost into swearing while his brothers looked on. He covered his mouth with one hand and glanced at his brothers, noticing Mikey as he mouthed, "Who the hell is this?"

Leo took a moment to compose himself then dropped his hand and nearly snarled back, "How the fuck should I know." When the woman began to stir and he froze, hoping against hope that she wouldn't wake up and scream.

He saw her eyes flutter open and closed again and sucked in a breath as she looked right at him and rubbed her eyes with one hand before saying in a breathy, almost husky voice.

"Oh. Hello." Knowing that they were caught and unsure of what else to do in light of the small greeting, Leo floundered for a second before saying awkwardly.

"Uh... Hi."

"What's you're name?" She asked curiously. Leo blinked at her and then glanced at his brothers again before answering.

"L-Leonardo. And you? What's your name?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"Isis..."

Leo nodded at her and gave a nervous looking smile then frowned and started to ask why she was in his enemies building. His mind already going through scenarios of kidnapping and such when she smiled at him and said in a drowsy voice, "You have pretty eyes." Then let her eyes drift closed again and was out like a damned light.

Leaving him sputtering in emarrassment while his brothers all watched on in bemusement.


	4. Chapter 4

After taking out the guards outside the bedroom where the young woman slept, the turtles continued their look around while they could, then retreated._ Raph_ _was right- _Leo thought darkly, S_omething is up._ He had never seen so many Foot and Dragons crawling around in one place before.

Yet he couldn't risk his brothers anymore than he already had, though his instinct was screaming at him to search out the source that had drawn so many bad people out of hiding and destroy it.

They backtracked to the bedroom, stepping over the Foot that they had knocked unconscious and re entered the bedroom and paused as they closed the door to glanced at the bed and wondered what _her_ part in everything was.

Because she was the only real thing that seemed out of place in the Oroku Saki residence, Leo told his brothers once they were back across the street that they would use the old security camera's that Don had installed a while back to spy on the goings on in the mansion before making a move.

He wouldn't risk his family's safety again at present.

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The second that they were back at the lair, Don went to work on the security camera's and reported that the only thing going on at the moment was Hun's freaking over the guards that they had knocked out.

Leo wasn't amused even if Raph and Mikey were.

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When Isis woke up in the morning Hun was hovering over the bed where she'd slept with a furious look on his face. "My lady-" He said in a voice full of barely controled rage as she sat up and rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Hun..." It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what was wrong when he grabbed her and jerked her up out of bed, startling her as he ran his large hands over her body, checking for wounds. Causing her to sqeak and squirm and try to escape his grasp when he finally dropped his hands from her and sighed. Some of his anger draining away. "Hun, what the _hell_ are you doing?" Isis demanded, partally embarressed. Partially furious.

Hun's hands had brushed up against places no one else's hands had ever been before and she didn't appreciate it. "Forgive me. I was checking you for wounds, my lady." Hun said in a quieter tone as he studied her.

She frowned at him and asked, "Why would you think I may be hurt?"

"We had a break in last night and I'm certain that it was the_ freaks _that came." Hun growled, making her blink at him. Not entirely certain that they were on the same page.

"Why would they come here? My dad and sister are dead. And I'm pretty sure that they don't know anything about me yet."

Hun cocked his head and gave her a peculiar look. The look of someone gauging another's worth. She _hated_ being looked at like that. That look reminded her far too much of her father and the looks that he had used to give her. When Hun finally spoke, his voice was still low and took on an almost kind quality. "Lady Karai used to say that you were different from her."

"I'm not that different Hun." She said as she started to turn when he grasped her wrist and stopped her, his fingers running along the flat of her palm. Checking for calluses that came from training like his former mistress.

He found some. But not the same kind.

Her hand was still soft.

His eyes went to her face and noted the anxious look there. She didn't like him touching her hand like this. It made her feel uncomfortable. He could understand that. But he didn't understand why- "Don't look at me like that Hun. I do know _how_ to fight. In fact I have a bit of a record from when I was younger. I merely choose not to let my temper get the best of me now that I'm older." _That and I have no reason to fight anymore- Now that father is gone and Karai is finally at peace. There isn't much of a reason for anything other than moving on. _

"I...see." Was all that Hun said before asking, "Would you like to shower and change while I over see security measures and get your breakfast ready?" Isis looked down at herself and let out a small nervous laugh, crap, she had forgotten to clean up and stuff before falling asleep last night.

"That would be nice. Thank you Hun."

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Leo had just come out of the shower and swung by his room to grab his mask when he heard Don call for him and Raph and Mikey- He thought he may have found something. Leo snagged his mask and vaulted over the stair railing and landed on the floor below as Raph came out of his workout room and Mikey stepped out of the kitchen with a large plastic bowl and a spatula in his hands, and made their way to Don's lab.

Leo had just finished tying his mask into place and stepped inside when he asked, "What's up?"

Don rubbed his eyes and was quiet for a second before turning to his computer and typed in something. Causing an image of Hun and the woman from the night before to pop up on his computer screen.

"I haven't found out what's going on, but I did find this just a bit curious." Don pressed another few buttons and a short scene played out between Hun and the woman. A scene that made no sense to the turtles watching.

From what they saw of the uncomfortable look on the woman's face, it appeared as if she were being held against her will by the hulking man. She obviously didn't like being touched by him. It didn't take a genius to figure that out as her shoulders slumped the second he was out of the room.

Leo made a humming sound then asked if anything else happened and Don typed in something else on his keyboard and another image of the woman appeared again, still in the bedroom.

She appeared to have showered and was dressed in a cream colored shirt and jeans with her hair twisted up into a knot at the nape of her neck. Some of her red hair escaping the knot to flirt with her nape as she walked over to the dresser and lightly ran her fingertips along the wood.

She looked in the mirror. Checked out the cosmetics, then moved on the three colorful little Egyption glass perfume bottles that had set off to the side of the dresser and picked one up and lifted the top off so that she could smell it. And nearly jumped out of her skin when Hun appeared out of nowhere behind her with a tray of food and some freshly cut flowers.

"Don is there any way that we can hear what they're saying to one another?" Raph asked curiously. Don held up one finger then started typing again and within seconds they heard Hun's voice over the monitor.

_"Here is your food. You like fruit, right?" _

_"Oh...uh...yeah. Fruit is awesome, thanks." The woman said with a slightly forced smile. _

_Hun set the tray of food on the table next to the bed then walked up to the woman and they heard a distinct squeak from her as he more or less pushed her back against the dresser and then tucked one of the flowers- a white peony that had had some of the petals removed so that it wasn't so big that it would dawrf her face- was tucked behind one of her ears before he moved back. _

_"There. The flower suits you." Hun said with a small smile. The woman's face was pale and she had an almost panicked look on her face as something clicked into place with the turtles. Hun's actions were almost as if he were courting the woman. _

_And the woman's actions were like that of cornered prey. _

_She was being very careful not to set the man off, or he might hurt her. _

"Leo, we can't leave that gal in Hun's hands. There's no telling what he'll do to her if we do." Raph said. Leo nodded his head in agreement, understanding all too well what might happen to the woman if she was left in Huns care.

"Don't worry. We'll go back tonight to get her." He said as he told Don to grab a nap and started to leave when he heard Mikey say.

"If Hun holds out that long, ya mean." And had to bite back the urge to snarl, _'Hun wouldn't dare.'_ That shit wasn't allowed. Not on their watch.

"We'll check in on her in an hour or so before we leave. Is that more acceptable?" Leo said in a cold tone from the doorway as he paused to look at his three brothers from over his shoulder. His azure blue eyes were narrowed in temper that made even Mikey pause before saying anything more.

All three shook their heads and protested all at once. _Hell no_, they didn't have a problem with that.

Not when Leo walked out of the lab pissed.


	5. Chapter 5

A few hours later-

Leo was strapping a few kunai to his thigh when there was a rap on his door and Mikey peeked in and blinked at him. "Whoa bro, are we going to war or something?" Mikey asked as he looked over his eldest brother and what he was wearing.

Leo was decked out to take on an army and then some which was disturbing since all they were going to do was make a grab and run.

The eldest turtle straightened his spine as he shot his youngest brother a look then grabbed the wire mesh shirt that Don and April had made a while back to serve as a secondary armor over their shells and quickly pulled it on. He still didn't know what to expect from the Foot or the Dragons and as such didn't feel like playing around.

He wanted answers while his brothers grabbed the woman that Hun seemed to be fixating on, before something horrible happened to her. "No jokes Mikey-" Leo said in a warning tone before asking, "Where are Don and Raph?"

"Don just woke up and is putting a small medical supply kit together...ya know, just in case. And Raph is..." Mikey looked over his shoulder at his other brother's closed bedroom door and frowned. Knowing Raph, he was gearing up for war too. But Mikey was hesitant to say that to Leo since he might give him another pissy glare.

"He's been ready for a while-" Mikey said as he mentally added, _I hope, _before continuing on. "And has just been waiting on the rest of us."

"And are you ready Mikey?" Leo asked casually as he grabbed the azure blue XXXXL sized custom made vest from his bed and slipped it on over the mesh shirt as Mikey gave him a, _'Oh please. I was born ready.'_ Sort of look then held up a medium sized box for Leo to see.

"I fixed a lunch box for her because I got to thinking that since this is the foot and the dragons- That maybe Hun might have messed with her food and she might appreciate something better for her-" Mikey said as he flushed slightly and said in an embarrassed tone, "I made some bite sized cucumber sandwhiches, some fruit, some cooked crab and shrimp with dipping sauces, and rice with mini sausages in the shape of octopusses.

Leo studied his brother for a moment then smiled. "I'm sure that she'll love it, Mikey. Now, let's go get the others and go."

.

.

.

It was well after noon when Isis staggered back into Karai's room and so far Hun and the rest of the goon squad had somehow managed to wear her out after they had spent a few hours going through her father's things and cataloging them to be donated to the coolest museum in the city. After all, her father had collected a lot of priceless historical items.

Flopping down on the bed, she used her toes to slip her shoes off and grabbed the stuffed bunny from the night before and snuggled up against it. Her head was aching and she wasn't totally sure but she thought it might be from the piece of metal still embedded in her head from the last beating her father had given her before sending her away.

The pressure just above her temple was agonizing, but hopefully a nap or something would help with it.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there, or if she even managed to doze off. All she knew was that one moment she was alone and the next...she wasn't. She couldn't exactly pinpoint the feeling of not being alone or how many were in the room with her or even if they meant her harm.

Her heart thudded frantically in her chest and she could feel herself about to become hysterical when she felt a dip in the matteress and automatically tensed up. Expecting Hun or someone else to touch her.

She wasn't disappointed when she felt a large three fingered hand lightly grasp her shoulder and gently turn her over onto her back as someone asked in a whispered tone, "Is she okay?" There was a wealth of information in the tone of the one who spoke. Isis could already tell that the person was very kind hearted to feel so anxious over a strangers well being.

She felt the hand on her shoulder, slip up her throat to the underside of her jaw and had to resist the urge to both shiver and jump up and scramble away as her head was tipped back just a bit for a second before the person hovering over her said, "I think so. She just seems to be asleep."

"No one's that deep a sleeper, Leo." Another voice said in a thick Brooklyn accent.

"I agree-" The voice that she knew as 'Leo' said as she felt the matress dip a bit next to her shoulder and had to supress the urge to throw her arm out and punch whoever was so close to her face that she could now feel his breath on her face as he continued to speak in a much softer tone. "Unless she's drugged or just really good at playing possum, that is."

Leaning over her a bit more she felt him speak next to her ear in a low rumbling tone. "Which are you? Drugged or playing possum?"

Her pulse leapt in her throat as she fought to keep herself calm and heard another low rumble that sounded like a small laugh as 'Leo' finally said, "Possum." in her ear then backed off until it felt as if all of the weight he'd been putting on the bed vanished.

And she shot up, curious to see who her visitors were before they vanished and was caught off guard when she wound up against someone's chest with a pair of strong steely arms wrapped around her. "Whoa there! Careful..."

Isis tipped her head back, ready to apologize to the person she'd just more or less nearly mowed into and blinked at seeing the most startlingly beautiful azure eyes surrounded by a blue mask.

"Oh. Oh. I'm sorry." She said in a dazed tone as the person holding her up gently pushed her back away from him so that she was sitting up on the bed looking at her visitors.

At first she didn't believe what she was seeing. After all, a six foot tall humanoid terrapin wasn't something that one saw everyday. Much less four of them all armed to the teeth and looking at her nervously. As if they expected her to scream.

But all she could manage was a wierd squeaking sound as her mind kicked back into gear as she blurted out, "Good god, you four are huge!"

Two of the four humanoids snickered in amusement while one gave her an almost shy smile as the one dressed in mesh and a bulky vest squatted down in front of her.

"Is this better?" The blue masked humanoid asked in a soft, gentle tone. She mutely nodded her head. Her mind awhirl with questions that could border on rude, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" She asked curiously. Blue smiled at her, a dazzling display that made her breath hitch in her throat for a moment as he said.

"I'll explain that, but first we have to get you to safety."

"Safety?" She repeated stupidly as he helped her up off of the bed and motioned for her to slip her shoes on. Frowning in puzzlement she dug her heels in a little bit, wanting an explanation from him and his friends before she agreed to go anywhere with them. "Wait just a second- What do you mean, you have to get me to safety?"

"We don't have time to explain everything, but this is a dangerous place for someone like you."

She looked at the one who had spoken this time- a humanoid with olive skin, light brown freckles along his upper arms and shoulders, and a purple mask on- and cocked her head just a bit to the side. She understood that the mansion would make them uncomfortable, but somehow they gave her the feeling that it wasn't just the mansion that was freaking them.

Or maybe _driving_ them was a better way to put it. "Just please tell me your names." She said one last time, her tone pleading. Blue sighed and gave her a strange look then said.

"My name is Hamoto Leonardo." Blue said as he bowed to her slightly before straightening his spine and indicating, "And these are my brothers- Hey are you okay?" He asked as he reached out and grasped her elbow as she paled and started to stagger back away from them with a horrified look on her pretty face.

"H-Hamoto? As in the Hamoto's? Arch enemies of Oroku Saki?" She asked, her eyes tearing up. Worried that he had just made a serious misstep of some kind, Leo frowned while trying to hold onto her and keep her from falling when her legs went weak.

"Yes... That would be us. How do you-" Leo started to ask, his tone suspicious, when the woman jerked herself from his grasp and moved over to one of the bedside tables and opened one of the drawers and then pulled out a big yellow envelope and then turned back and held it out to him. Leo and the others looked at the envelope oddly then looked back at the woman as she said.

"This is Karai's will." Leo felt his eyes widen in shock as he automatically took the envelope and looked at her again as she said, "I already know my part. Now it's time for you and your family to learn theirs. Take the will and read it. I'll wait here for an answer... If you care to give one."


	6. Chapter 6

Splinter stared at the bundle of papers that his sons had handed him after coming back to the lair from their topside excursion in disbelief for a moment, then anger, then frustration before glancing over at his four sons- all of whom were sitting across from him. Waiting for him to say something.

He started to crumple the papers, but caught himself and after taking a deep breath, placed them in his lap and looked at his sons again. His eyes sharp. "Do you know what this is, my sons?"

The four were silent as each of them shook their heads no.

"It is a will-" Splinter said before continuing to speak. "A way for someone who is dying or dead to convey their wishes once they are gone. In this will it states several things. One of which states that one of you must marry the remaining heir to the Oroku Saki name."

His sons all blinked as shell shocked expressions crossed their faces before Raph jumped up and snarled, "No way! We killed them! There isn't anyone left to carry on the Shredder's name!"

"Are you so sure?" Splinter asked, startling Raph and the others before saying, "Oroku Saki is not a man to be underestimated. It would not be unusual for our enemy to have more than one child. Perhaps one that was hidden away as a failsafe. To see to it that once he was gone someone would still be around to carry on his name. It would also stand to reason that since he favored female children like Karai- that his other child would be a female as well."

The turtle's jaws dropped open in disbelief with the exception of Leo who was sitting there quietly soaking everything up. His mind spinning with questions. Another Oroku Saki child... Another girl like Karai...

His chest suddenly ached at the thought. He wasn't sure if he could stand having to fight another girl like Karai.

Someone with a different personality, different smile, hopes dreamed. Someone whom had called the same place home. Called the same ruthless man her father. And had been trained to fight against her will.

"Then the Shredder has another kid-" Mikey said, sky blue eyes flickering to Leo, his expression worried.

"As I said, it is possible-" Splinter replied before asking, "Who gave you these papers?"

"A woman being kept at the Shredder's mansion."

"Bring her here. I wish to speak to her at length about these papers. Perhaps she may have an idea of who Oroku Saki's heir is." Splinter said.

_"Hai."_ The four turtles said at once as they all bowed to him then quickly got to their feet and left the dojo to do as Splinter had said.

.

.

.

Isis had been left by her unusual visitors with a deeply rooted feeling of dread and had decided to try and relax until they came back by taking a nice long soak. She stayed in for close to forty five minutes then got out. Grabbing a sapphire colored towel from the counter, and wrapped it around herself then used one hand to wipe the large oval mirror hanging over the sink and took a good long look at herself.

Her long hair hung down around her face and shoulders in little wet strings, making her long for the days when she'd had shoulder length hair. Her skin was paler than she'd ever seen it before, the slight dusting of freckles showing across the bridge of her nose making her feel a little subconscious about her appearance.

Huffing slightly she looked away from her reflection and dug around in one of the counter drawers until she cound some makeup and a pair of scissors. Then took a moment or so to grab a brush and brush her red hair so that she could calculate how much length to take off of her hair. Once that was done she grasped a strand hanging over her shoulder and cut it off right at her shoulder.

Cutting her hair was a semi difficult task since she had to use a hand held mirror along with the one hanging on the wall to cut the back, but once that was done she felt considerably better. Now all she had to do was put on some cosmetics and she'd feel like a brand new person. Luckily for her, she and Karai had always shared the same skin hue and had always loved the same red, copper, pinks, purples, blues and greens.

She found shades that would enhanse her eyes and hair without clashing with them and put them on, then grabbed the small pile of clothes sitting off to the side where she'd left them and pulled on the lavender lace and satin panties and bra. Then grabbed her black turtleneck and dark skinny jeans and pulled them on.

Running her fingers through her short red hair she looked at her reflection again and smiled. _Better... I feel so much better now. _She thought as she walked over to the bathroom door and tossed her laundry into the basket then opened the door and stepped out and almost had a heart attack when she found her earlier visitors had returned and were standing there, waiting on her.

"You four again- I take it that someone read the will." It wasn't a question. Leo nodded his head mutely and took in her appearance. Since they had left earlier she had cut her hair and was wearing makeup. She bore such a striking resemblace to Karai that he felt as if he were staring at a ghost as Donatello said,

"Our master looked over the will and ordered us to come and collect you. He wishes to speak about the conditions further."

The woman only nodded her head and walked over to where her shoes were and slipped them on as she asked, "Will I be gone long?"

"Does it matter if you are or not?" Raph asked in a rude tone that earned him a dirty look from Leo as he started to pull himself back together.

"It might if you don't want Hun out for your blood-" The woman pointed out in a gentle tone, not the least bit bothered by Raph's temper. The others might have been impressed if they didn't have so much on their minds. "If I'm just gone for an hour or so then I can cover up the trip by lying and saying that I just went out for a bit. But if I'm gone longer than that, then Hun will know something is up." She said as she walked over to a shelf with a lovely painting hanging above it and ran her fingertips along the bottom side of the shelf until they heard a clicking sound.

The wall shifted and the four tensed. Fearing that they had just fallen into a trap when the wall split apart to reveal a hidden room with screens on one side and weapons ranging from the latest military weapons to ancient in design.

She walked into the room as if she owned it, her eyes skimming first the camera's. Then going to the weapons where she picked up a small pistol and knelt down and opened up a pannel under the display cases and pulled out an ankle holster and a box of bullets.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked in a suspicious tone, wanting to snatch the death machine from her grasp and shake her.

"It's a dangerous city. If we run into trouble I don't want to be a burden on you or your friends." She said as she carefully started to load the gun when Leo reached out and grabbed her wrist. Drawing her attention to his face.

"You don't need to bring this with you. We'll protect you if anything happens."

She blinked up at him, her expression blank for a moment before she smiled. "You're so sweet. Far too sweet to bloody your hands for me." Leo looked a little taken aback by her words and let her wrist slip from his grasp without meaning too. She finished loading the gun then strapped the holster to her ankle and placed the gun in it and tugged her pant leg down into place and stood.

"Will I need a jacket?" She asked curiously as she walked out of the weapons room with Leo close behind her.

"No. But if you want to grab one anyways then go ahead." Leo said as she nodded and went to Karai's closet and pulled out a long black waist coat with white fur lining the hood, cuffs of the sleeves and hem. And for a moment Leo's eyes widened as she brushed by him. A lead weight settled in his stomach as he looked at his brothers, hoping that none of them had noticed the resemblance-

Don had. So had Raph.

He could see it in their expressions though they tried to hide it. Mikey reached out and took her small hand in his and motioned for her to be quiet, and Leo's heart nearly stopped in his chest when Raph made like he was going to jump on her back and kill her.

This wasn't good. And he doubted that things were going to get better with the meeting with Splinter.


	7. Chapter 7

Getting the woman out of the mansion hadn't proved to be much of a challenge for them despite the extra Foot soldiers running about. And Leo couldn't help but notice how quiet she was when they led her to a manhole and pulled it back. Nor could he help but notice how she had jumped down into the sewers, unaided and without needing to be prompted to do so without worrying about what the sewage would smell like or what it would do to her clothing.

Quickly making it obvious that she was more than comfortable with being dirty.

Once they were all in the sewers Mikey took her hand again and Leo couldn't help but zero in on her hand holding his youngest brother's and wonder what was going through her mind even as Mikey asked curiously, "So um, I know that we didn't ask before but...what's your name dudette?"

"Isis. Like the egyption goddess," She replied with no hint of deception. "What are your names?" Mikey grinned.

"I'm Michelangelo but you can call me Mikey. The mean looking guy in the red mask is Raphael, or Raph. The guy in purple is Donatello or Don or Donny. And the serious guy in the blue-"

"You mean the one with the pretty eyes?"

Mikey snickered. "Yeah that one, his name is Leonardo or Leo as we like to call him."

Isis nodded her head then said, "Those are nice names. They suite you." Mikey blushed a little bit and ducked his head.

"Thanks. But I think you win in the cool names department since Isis is pretty rare to come across nowadays."

Isis looked up at Mikey and blushed, embarrassed by his compliment before muttered a soft, "Thank you for the compliment, but I've always hated my name." Mikey gave her a startled look and was about to ask why when Leo reached out and tapped him on the shoulder, indicating that they had come to the juncture just a little ways from their lair where they needed to stop and blindfold her.

Mikey stopped and Isis followed suite as Leo reached into a small leather bag attached to his belt and pulled out a piece of dark cloth and without explaining a word to her, stepped forward to blindfold her. She looked up at him for a moment with such trust in her eyes that he felt shaken.

She wasn't the Shredders other kid, was she? She was far too pleasant and trusting. But then those things could be faked, he knew that more than anyone.

He tied the blindfold in place and took her arm in his hand and deftly maneuvered her through the tunnels to the lair and kept her out of the way so that Don could punch in the code to open the door. Once that was done he guided her inside of their home and stopped short when he saw his father standing just a few feet away, waiting. His tail twitching in irritation.

"Is this the young lady you mentioned before?"

"Hai, sensei." Leo said as he manuevered her over to stand in front of his master before he bothered to remove the blindfold. The cloth fell away and the woman blinked her eyes at Splinter while Leo and the others waited for her to scream or something.

She was strangely calm though as both she and Splinter sized eachother up before one of them spoke. "Welcome to our lair Miss..."

"Isis."

Splinters whiskers twitched a bit as his lips curved up in a small smile. "Isis. For someone raised by a man with much animosity towards myself and my sons, you are strangely at peace with being in our presence." Leo let go of her and jumped back away from her, his hand going automatically to one of his katana grips. His eyes fixed on the woman as she replied.

"I'm not my father, sir."

"Forgive me if I do not believe you, Isis-" Splinter said as he stepped back a little bit and indicated with his hand that she should come in further. "Please come in and we will speak on the matter further." Isis smiled at him almost wryly and started down the stairs with Splinter and the others following close behind.

The second they hit the last stair Isis politely mentioned how nice their home was. Splinter was a mite startled by the idle chit chat, but said nothing while Leo cast a glance at his brothers. Raph still looked murderous while it appeared that Don had calmed a bit from earlier. Mikey, who was now on the bandwagon had a worried look on his face and kept looking down at the hand that she'd held with a confused look.

As if he couldn't fathom why she had taken his hand when he had offered it. Surely an enemy wouldn't take his hand so easily. Right?

Splinter led them all into the dojo and motioned for Isis to take the mat in front of his own while the rest of them took the mats lining the wall. Splinter lit a few candles then sat down so that he was facing Isis and asked, "About the papers that were delivered to me earlier, I wish to know your thoughts on Karai's wishes?"

"In all honesty sir, I think they are...sound ideas." Isis said as she fidgeted with her right jacket sleeve and tried to resist the urge to squirm under the intense stare directed at her.

"Would you care to explain?" Splinter asked, his tone deceptively light.

"I think Karai spent a lot of her time knowing that she was going to die at the hands of you or one of your sons. I think it bothered her that the fighting might continue even when she was gone. So she tried to think of a way to end the war between our families for good. Disbanding the Foot clan is one way. Renouncing the Purple dragons would be another. But the most absolute way to stop the fighting would be to 1) kill the remaining heir or 2) to have that person marry into your clan. And since I have no personal grudge against you or your sons for the deaths of my father and sister, I have no reason to fight you."

Splinter tilted his head slightly, his ears twitching as he said, "You bear no ill will towards us." He sounded like he didn't believe her. Isis supposed she couldn't blame him there. Especially after everything that had happened between their families.

"No. I think both of our families have suffered enough." Splinter was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say to her. She had an innocent and simplistic view of things. Almost like a child. It made Splinter wonder how she had survived under Oroku Saki's care especially when the man had hated weakness and innocence with a passion.


	8. Chapter 8

Splinter's whiskers twitched as he regarded the woman across from him in aggitation. So she thought Karai's plan to marry into his clan to stop the fighting was a good idea. _What is she up too? _He wondered for what must have been the thousandth time since his sons had brought the woman to their home. _What is her plan of action? _She couldn't really think that Karai's plan was a good one.

No one was _that_ naive. Or at least he didn't think so.

"If you do not mind, please explain further." Splinter said.

Isis fidgetted a bit more with her jacket sleeve as she collected her thoughts then said. "It's a good idea for various reasons. But the main advantage that I can think of is that by marrying into your clan, I would be entering into a treaty with your family. A blood bond that wouldn't be easily broken. This same bond would be strengthened if the union was blessed with children... _Oh!_" The moment the words left her lips, she slapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Splinter wide eyed. Uncertain of what to say, she flushed with embarrassment and stuttered out a meek sounding apology.

She hadn't meant to assume anything as far as the turtle's abilities (or lackthereof) in procreating. After all she had never encountered beings like them before. So she had no real information on whether they could have children or not. And the fact that she had even mentioned children would seem rude and suspicious to them...among other things.

"Is that your plan?" Splinter finally asked in a deadthly quiet tone that sent shivers down Isis's spine. "You plan to marry one of my sons, beget a child then use it to destroy us-" He said, his tone accusing as his tail flicked back and forth angrily.

Isis looked taken aback for a moment before flying into defense mode. "Excuse me? What the hell is wrong with you that you would think of pulling an innocent 'currently non existant' child into this? Are you_ that_ hellbent on revenge? Or has the fact that you've lived with you're hatred for so long finally warped your mind."

Splinter growled. His lips peeling back from his sharp teeth in a display of aggression that his sons hadn't seen since they were hatchlings. "Mind your tongue young lady-"

"No. With all due respect sir, I came down here to have a rational talk with you and your sons about the terms of Karai's will. But I can see now that no matter what I say, your hatred for my father and sister is going to cloud your judgement-" She said as she slowly got to her feet. Splinters tail twitched more angrily than before, cutting through the air behind him like a whip.

"Sit down."

"Bite me." Isis snapped at the irate rat as she walked across the dojo and opened the door. Leo and the others jumped to their feet and ran to see where she was going and saw the lair door open and no sign of Isis anywhere.

Leo looked from the open doorway to his father and sighed as he said, "I'll go make sure she actually left."

Splinter turned his head and gave his son an icy stare and fisted his hands in his lap and made a rumbling growling sound as he said, "Please do." Leonardo nodded his head once then ran out of the room after Isis. Intent on catching her and speaking to her since his father refused to be rational about Karai's will, then it was his place to try and be rational and hear her out.

(***********************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Isis was lost in the sewers.

The situation might have been funny to her if she hadn't been so upset that she had run blindly out of the Hamoto's home and turned the wrong way. Or the right way? Honestly she had no idea what she was doing anymore. She hadn't meant to blow up at Mr. Hamoto like she had, but his insinuation that she would use a child against them had been more than she could take.

After all isn't that what her father had done? Taken in orphan children and taught them to do his dirty business for him.

_Bastard. _Isis thought as she stumbled over a few rats, trying hard not to step on them. But she missed one and upon hearing it's alarmed squeak- let out a shriek and found herself falling only to find herself saved by a strong pair of emerald colored arms and pulled against a shell. She felt the faintest stirring of breath against her hair and wanted to turn her head and see who had her, but she was still upset.

"Are you okay?" The person holding her asked. She recognised the voice as the one belonging to the eldest son of Mr. Hamoto, Leonardo.

She silently nodded her head and looked toward the stone wall of the tunnel, her eyes staring blankly as he shifted his grip on her- startling her, and set her back on her feet and trapped her body in place with his own. She assumed it was either to keep her from running off again or it was to keep her from falling. Either way, his presence felt overwhelming to her.

Raising her hands subconsciously, she placed them flat against his plasteron causing him to frown and ask again. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I-I'm fine-" He was just a little too close for her comfort. "Which way am I supposed to go to get out of here?" She asked in an effort to distract herself from his closeness. He looked to the left then back at her. Even in the darkness she could feel the weight of his stare.

Finally after a heartbeat or two she made a little growling sound and snapped, "Yes! I have no sense of direction! Are you happy now?" He continued to stare at her for another long second then shrugged his shoulders. A quiet indication that he had already guessed that much. She sighed tiredly and hung her head for a second and took several deep breaths to calm her already fraying temper and patted his shell, right over his heart and muttered. "Okay. Sorry for snapping at you. Now_ please_ get me out of here before I develop claustrophobia."

He shifted to let her move away but Isis noticed that he kept eerily close to her. Shadowing her as she walked in the direction he had indicated. They walked in silence for several minutes before Isis said tentatively, "So... Your dad is probably pretty pissed at me right now."

"Yeah. But he'll calm down."

"Maybe so, but not enough to listen to reason." Isis said as she lifted a hand to run her fingers through her hair when his hand grasped her wrist and stopped her. Isis stopped walking and turned to look at him, her expression blank as he said,

"Then _I'll_ be the voice of reason. I think you made some very valid points. To continue fighting at this point is meaningless. Your father and sister are dead and to this point, you haven't shown animosity or hatred towards us. Nor have you acted as if you have a grudge against us..."

"That's because I don't. The fight between our families was started by our fathers and ended, on my side- with my sister's death. I don't hate you. I hold no grudge against you what so ever. I just want to put everything behind me. Your family's pain. My pain. _All of it_."

Leo tightened his grip on her wrist a fraction as he studied her expression in the dark. She sounded like she meant what she said. She even looked like she meant what she had just said. But sincerity could be feigned. He knew that from experience, however look as hard as he might he couldn't find any traces or indications that she was lying.

Letting his fingers loosen some he found himself asking, "Could you live with marrying someone who had a hand in your sister's death? Would you really be content?" _Are you really that strong? _He wondered.

"I-I guess I could. I mean as long as I wasn't knocked around or something then I could be fairly content."

He raised an eye ridge at her and said her words back to her in a stupified tone, "Fairly content?" What the hell did that mean? Either a person was content or they weren't. There was no inbetween. If she married into his family, there would be distrust at first. Perhaps even violence, depending on who she married. And those feelings of distrust and anger wouldn't go away for a long time.

It was likely to make her miserable. _They_ were likely to make her miserable.

He let go of her and they started walking again. They had been walking for almost thirty five minutes when he reached out and pulled her to a stop under a manhole. "Well, I guess this is it-" He said, feeling a little awkward. She nodded her head and asked him where exactly they were and he told her that they were half a mile from a movie theater.

She nodded her head, a cover story for her disappearance already forming in her mind as she thanked him and let him give her a boost up where she moved the manhole out of the way and climbed out of the sewer.


	9. Chapter 9

Leo tried to talk to his father about Karai's will for little over a week before deciding that Isis was right.

His father wasn't going to listen. Which meant that he couldn't make the right decision for the clan. Which meant that as the heir of the clan, Leo had to step up and act on their behalf. So upon making the decision to act- he went to Donatello to ask his opinion on the matter.

Walking into Don's lab while his brother tinkered with something, he knocked to gain his attention and grinned when Don nearly jumped out of his shell before he twisted around to look at him. "Leo! What the hell? You nearly took five years off of my life!"

"Sorry. But I need to talk to you about-"

"Karai's will," Don said, easily reading his eldest brother's intentions. "Or is it Isis that you want to talk about?"

"Both actually," Leo said before asking, "What do you think of everything?"

Don hummed for a moment then replied, "I'm not sure. On one hand the fact that Karai wrote out her will as she did suggests that she wanted something _more_ for both of our clans. She wanted us to thrive and prosper, meaning that at the time of her death she may not have hated us as much as we were led to believe. And then there is Isis, she seems more... Innocent than Karai. I certainly picked up no hostility towards us, coming from her-" Don said, though he didn't mention how defensive Isis had become once Splinter had accused her of having ulterior motives.

After all, anyone with honor would have become upset by such accusations.

"Then you really think that our clan would prosper from such a union?" Leo asked almost anxiously. Don sighed and set his gadget aside and studied his brother for a moment before answering.

"I think that as long as Isis had the right male by her side to help her, then yes. Our clan would proser quite a bit... Not that Master Splinter cares any. You've seen how pissed he's been everytime Isis is mentioned."

Leo snorted and crossed his arms over his plasteron and leaned his shell back against the wall. "I think he's just pissed because she told him to bite her."

"Could be," Don said. "I don't think he's ever had anyone ever talk to him like that aside from Raph."

"I think you may be right." Leo said thoughtfully, as the memory of Isis mouthing off to his father caused his lips to curve up at the corners a little bit as he thought, _For someone who came across as so defenseless, she sure has some spirit._

He liked that in a woman.

"I also think that Splinter is a little too pissed to make a rational decision."

Don made another humming sound. Leo may be right about that. Don thought before asking, "So what are you going to do?"

Leo sighed. "There's only one thing that I can do. And it's for the future of our family." Don's eyes widened a little bit in surprise before he gulped and asked in a curious tone.

"Who will be chosen?"

"Raph is out. He's too violent. Mikey's out because he's too young-"

"But that just leaves us." Don said as Leo nodded his head slowly. Don sucked in a breath and held it, his heart slamming against his ribs. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Leo that while he held no ill will against the woman, he doubted he was husband material when Leo sighed and said softly.

"Baka. Wipe that look off of your face. I'll do it. I just need you to act as a witness. Think you can handle that?" Leo asked quietly. Don exhaled and sank back in his seat in relief and slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah. Just let me know when."

Leo thought for a moment before replying. "Later tonight. Tell Splinter and the others that your going for a junk yard run. I'll do it then." Don nodded his head in understanding as Leo pushed away from the wall and walked out. Leaving his brother to tinker with his inventions until it was time to go.

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Leo stepped into his room a few minutes latter feeling as if there were butterflies in his stomach. The strange fluttering sensation causing his knees to go weak as he quietly closed the door and tried to think of what he would need for the ceremony. Walking over to a trunk that he kept against the far wall of his room, he dropped down to his knees in front of it and opened the lid.

Inside was a lifetime's worth of treasures, secrets, and dreams.

He had his first toys from his childhood. His first training sword. The first gift he had ever recieved from April. Another from Casey. And of course underneath all of those was a plain white kimono that he had had April help him gather the materials for a few years back. Pulling the material out of the chest, he looked it over with a critical eye and wished that he had put some blue on it somewhere.

Maybe close to the hem and the collar.

Sighing again, he closed his eyes for a moment and wondered if he was really ready for this. Sure he was used to doing the responsible thing and placing the clan ahead of himself, but that was before he had thought he would one day settle down.

What would be required of him tonight was something that he had thought he would never be a part of. Folding the material, he then pulled out the other items that went with it and set it aside. Noting only vaguely that his hands were shaking.

_Tonight- _He thought, his mind edging on nervous excitment. Tonight he would be a married man... But first he needed to look up traditional japanese marriage ceremonies and see how they were carried out.

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Isis had been going through Karai's things to figure out what she was going to keep and found a rare treasure that she had thought she lost long ago. A white silk formal kimono with sky blue, sapphire blue and icey blue peoney's embroidered along the collar, sleeves, and hem of the kimono. It was stunning really.

And after a few minutes of digging around in Karai's jewelry box she found some white and sky blue pearls and some hair pins.

Looking at the bedroom door almost nervously- as if expecting Hun to come barreling through at any minute.

After a minute or so she set the kimono and pearls down on the bed and quickly pulled her pale pink button up shirt over her head and tossed it down next to the kimono before reaching down and slipping her worn, faded to white jeans down her long legs.

Picking up the kimono she slipped her arms through the sleeves and slowly started to dress herself. It took fifteen minutes or so for her to tie the knot in the belt and slip on the necklace and to put her hair up, then looked in the mirror to see how it all looked.

She didn't look like herself.

In fact she looked more like a geisha than a normal person just wearing a kimono. Humming she looked down at herself almost curiously, a small frown marring her expression. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to try the dress on after all. Still it was a beautiful dress, and far be it from her not to appreciate it properly.

So despite the fact that she suddenly felt a bit awkward, she decided to wear the dress until later that night when she took a shower.


End file.
